Senator Susan Collins of Maine disclosed publicly for the first time in her nearly three-decade Senate career that she has a benign essential tremor — a neurological condition causing involuntary shaking in her hands, head, and voice that she says she has lived with since the day she first took office in 1997 and that has never once affected her ability to do her job.
The disclosure, made Wednesday in an interview with WCSH-TV in Maine and followed by a formal statement to the Associated Press, came after viral video clips from her 2026 reelection campaign announcement showed visible trembling — triggering a wave of online commentary that Collins described as at times “cruel.”
“The tremor is occasionally inconvenient, and sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but it does not hinder my ability to work and, as I said, is something that I have lived with for decades,” Collins said in her statement.
Collins confirmed she has had the tremor for the entirety of her nearly three-decade Senate career.
She described it as “an extremely common condition” with “absolutely no impact” on her ability to do her job, noting she takes medication for it and that it is not a neurodegenerative condition.
What Essential Tremor Is — and Is Not
Benign essential tremor is one of the most common movement disorders in the country, affecting roughly one in five people over the age of 65, according to the National Institutes of Health.
It causes rhythmic, involuntary shaking — most commonly in the hands and arms, but also potentially in the head and voice — that occurs during activity rather than at rest.
It is frequently confused with Parkinson’s disease but is fundamentally different.
It is not progressive in the same neurological sense, does not impair cognitive function, and does not carry the same disease trajectory.
At least half of essential tremor cases are inherited, meaning the condition runs in families and often begins at relatively young ages — consistent with Collins’ account that she has had it throughout her entire Senate career.
Why This Is Also a Business Story
For investors, federal contractors, and companies that track congressional activity, the significance of Collins’ disclosure lies not in the medical diagnosis itself but in what it signals about continuity in one of the most powerful positions in the U.S. Senate.
As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins has been at the forefront of the chamber’s many spending disputes this Congress, often leading the floor debate and providing the GOP’s closing arguments on major funding legislation.
The Appropriations Committee controls discretionary federal spending — the annual decisions that determine budgets for defense, healthcare, infrastructure, education, and every major federal agency.
Its chair is among the most operationally consequential positions in the entire chamber, and stability in that role matters directly to the businesses, nonprofits, universities, and government contractors that depend on the federal appropriations process.
Collins’ streak of never missing a Senate vote stands at 9,966 — the second-longest consecutive voting streak in Senate history.
That record, spanning nearly three decades of votes on legislation ranging from the Affordable Care Act to two Trump impeachment trials to Supreme Court confirmations, is itself the most concrete available measure of her operational reliability.
Her statement offered no indication of a reduced schedule, altered committee responsibilities, or any transition planning — framing the disclosure as a health clarification rather than a signal of diminished capacity.
The Political Stakes Behind the Timing
The circumstances that prompted the disclosure are directly tied to Collins’ 2026 reelection campaign — widely considered one of the most competitive Senate races of the midterm cycle.
Collins announced her reelection bid in February in a video posted to X that was viewed 4.9 million times.
Viewers immediately noted visible shaking in her hands and a warble in her voice, prompting widespread online discussion about her health.
The scrutiny intensified in early May when the clip was widely reshared.
At 72, Collins is seeking a sixth Senate term against likely Democratic opponent Graham Platner, a 41-year-old political newcomer who emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee after Maine Governor Janet Mills chose not to enter the race.
The 32-year age gap between the two candidates has made health and fitness a more prominent issue in this campaign than in any of Collins’ previous races.
The Maine race is viewed by both parties as one of Democrats’ strongest pickup opportunities in 2026 — a potential factor in their bid to regain control of the Senate.
Despite Maine having backed Democratic presidential candidates in every election since 1992, Collins has repeatedly defied polling expectations, winning reelection through a combination of strong constituent service, moderate positioning, and crossover appeal that has outlasted multiple national political waves.
The broader backdrop is a political environment in which the age and health of elected officials has become a far more pointed public issue than it was a decade ago.
The debate was sharpened dramatically by President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection in 2024 amid questions about his fitness for office at 81 — a moment that permanently raised the threshold of scrutiny applied to senior officials of both parties.
Those questions have lingered with President Donald Trump, who is 79, and have extended down the ballot to Senate and House races where age and tenure have become campaign issues in ways they rarely were before.
Collins’ decision to disclose on her own terms — in a local Maine television interview before the story was driven by outside reporting — reflects a political calculation that transparency is a stronger position than silence in the current environment.
Whether the disclosure blunts the health scrutiny or simply draws more attention to it will ultimately be decided by Maine voters in November.
For now, the Senate’s second-longest consecutive voter, chair of its most powerful spending committee, and one of its last remaining genuine swing votes has put her medical record on the table — and made clear she intends to keep working.
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